A blow mold system in a typical glassware forming machine includes at least one pair of mold halves that are brought together around a bottom plate to form a blow mold cavity. The bottom plate typically includes a central air passage for receiving cooling air to cool the portion of the bottom plate against which the glass is blown, and may also include one or more vacuum passages for feeding vacuum to the blow mold halves to help draw the glass against the mold surfaces during the blowing operation. The bottom plate is mounted on a base that has a passage for feeding cooling air to the bottom plate, and which may also have a vacuum passage for feeding vacuum to the bottom plate. The bottom plate and base are mounted on a lift mechanism for selectively raising the bottom plate into operative position for engagement by the blow mold halves, and for lowering the bottom plate beneath the level of the blow mold halves for maintenance, repair or replacement of the bottom plate and/or the blow mold halves. The present disclosure is directed to improvements in the bottom plate assembly mounting and lift arrangement that facilitate direction of cooling air to the bottom plate assembly in various cooling modes of operation and/or that facilitate raising and lowering of the bottom plate assembly, and/or that reliably clamp the bottom plate assembly in the raised position.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A bottom plate lift mechanism for a glassware forming machine, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, includes a bottom plate assembly having at least one bottom plate on a base with a passage for feeding cooling air to the bottom plate. The bottom plate assembly is mounted on a housing that has a cooling air chamber for directing cooling wind to the bottom plate assembly. A lift mechanism is operatively coupled to the housing for selectively raising and lowering the housing and the bottom plate assembly mounted on the housing. The housing has an opening to the cooling air chamber for receiving a cooling air control cartridge to control passage of cooling wind through the chamber to the bottom plate assembly. A plurality of control cartridges are interchangeably insertable through the opening into the chamber for selectively controlling passage of cooling air to the bottom plate assembly in different cooling modes of operation associated with the cartridges.
The cooling air chamber preferably includes a passage through the housing, and the opening in the housing opens into the passage for selective placement of the cartridge into the passage. The cooling air cartridge may comprise a damper cartridge with a damper for adjustably blocking the air passage to regulate the flow of cooling wind to the bottom plate assembly, such as by manual adjustment or adjustment by means of a pneumatic valve. The cartridge alternatively may be a compressed air cooling cartridge with a damper sleeve for blocking the air passage through the housing and a fitting for connection to a source of compressed air to supply compressed cooling air to the bottom plate assembly instead of cooling wind received through the cooling air chamber in the housing.
A hollow support tube preferably extends from the housing for feeding cooling wind to the housing through the hollow interior of the tube. The lift mechanism preferably includes a base with a clamp for selective external engagement with the hollow support tube to hold the tube and the housing in a raised position. The lift mechanism preferably also includes a lifting screw disposed on the base, a lifting nut operatively coupled to the lifting screw, and facility for selectively rotating the lifting screw and thereby raising and lowering the lifting nut and the housing. The bottom plate assembly may include a passage for feeding vacuum to the bottom plate, and the bottom plate mechanism may include a conduit for feeding vacuum to the bottom plate assembly through the housing separately from the lift mechanism.